A number of countries have organizations that monitor safety performance of automobiles. For example, the European New Car Assessment Program (Euro NCAP) and the Japan New Car Assessment Program (JNCAP) provide rating schemes for crash testing automobiles. One area of interest relates to pedestrian head impacts, for example, along the front of the vehicle.
It is known that automobile bodies are typically formed of a number of panels that are mounted to support structures. One such panel is a fender structure, which is disposed on an apron structural member. Fender attachment brackets have been proposed for attaching the fender structure to an apron structural member and function to absorb impact energy.